What Mark Pope, Kentucky Basketball Said About Facing Alabama for Third Time

The Crimson Tide and Wildcats will meet for the third time this season in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

Feb 22, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope directs his team against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second half at Coleman Coliseum. | Will McLelland-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE–– Alabama got to sit back and watch the madness of March in Thursday's slate of games at the SEC Tournament, including the game involving the Crimson Tide's Friday opponent.

Kentucky's game against Oklahoma didn't tip off at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville until almost 10 p.m. local time. The sixth-seeded Wildcats had a 10-point lead over the 14-seed Sooners with 1:26 to go.

Oklahoma roared all the way back to take the lead with six seconds left before Kentucky's Otega Oweh rescued the Wildcats again with a last-second buzzer beater to win 85-84 as the clock went past midnight, and the calendar flipped to Friday.

Now, Kentucky will have to face 3-seed Alabama less than 24 hours later, who got to rest on Thursday with the double-bye as a top-four seed. The two teams met twice in the regular season with Alabama winning both times.

"It's incredibly challenging," Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said. "That's why it's March magic, right? It's March magic. If you can do it, then you do it, right? We get to be tested in an epic way. We lost twice to Alabama. They're a top four or five team in the country. We're a little beat up and a little shorthanded. All that's fine.

"That's actually where you write the great stories. That's why we're all attracted to March, is because there are just these few teams that step up and do things that nobody thinks they can do, under major duress and all kinds of problems. If you don't want to be part of that, don't go to March."

Kentucky guard Lamont Butler re-aggrevated his shoulder injury in the first half of the Oklahoma game, and Pope said his status will need to be evaluated further tomorrow. Butler played in the first matchup against Alabama on Jan. 18 with 17 points, four rebounds and eight assists.

He did not play in the return trip to Tuscaloosa, which Alabama won by 13 points. If he is unable to go, it will lessen Kentucky's chances against the Crimson Tide.

"We're hungry for what's to come.," Kentucky guard Koby Brea said. "We're just looking forward to the next game. We know that we have a tough opponent. It's going to be a good challenge for us to play them for the third time, hopefully come up with a win."